Nike
In today’s increased globalization, one must understand the fact that it has become increasingly difficult for a global manager to manage his operations perfectly. The manager would need to perform many more activities, including facing the operational and strategic challenges that his business throws at him, much more than he would have done in previous years. He would also have to be knowledgeable in the several different aspects of risk management, so that his company would perform at its optimum best, with no constraints. (Frenkel; Hommel; Rudolf; Dufey, 2005) in today’s working environment, there are several different types of global specialists: business managers, country managers and functional managers. Today, a company does have to be much more effective and ready to face the multiple challenges that are thrown at it on a daily basis, while at the same time remaining sensitive to various issues that concern their employees. (Churchwell, 2003)
Take a case in point, Nike. A new report issued by the non-profit alliance ‘Global Alliance for workers and communities’, states that workers of Nike have been facing a diverse set of problems: sexual comments and unwanted attention form supervisors, and dissatisfaction with managers. (Akst, 2001) This company has been embroiled in controversy for a great many years now, and main complaint being that the company does not take care of the working conditions of its thousands of employees across the globe. However, the reason may be that it is subcontractors make products for Nike; it does not own the factory. However, ask experts from across the globe, can this justify the fact that most of the workers for Nike are either working at much lower wages than they must earn, or they are grossly underage. Should Nike be held responsible for working conditions in foreign factories where subcontractors make products for Nike? (“Nike: The Sweatshop Debate,” n. d.)
In my opinion, a company of the global standards of Nike, which makes $10 billion in annual revenues and sells its products in more than 140 countries must remain more aware of the pathetic condition of its workers; they are forced to work six days a week for only $40 a month, and for much longer hours than is accepted in developed countries across the world by their factory managers, who probably wish to make money as quickly as possible without thought for the difficulties of his workers. One worker, Lap, even stated that she had to complete her expected quota of shoes before she could go home, even if she was unwell, or had to leave on an emergency. To add fuel to the fire, a child as young as eleven years old was also forced to work in the factory, in similarly depressing conditions. Nike as a responsible multinational company must try to take steps that would offer its workers better working conditions or wages, and therefore, must be held responsible for the dismal state of affairs. (“Nike: The Sweatshop Debate,” n. d.) would also like to state that Nike must try to follow those safety standards that prevail in the United States, of course, with a few modifications wherever necessary, Nike being a responsible company that supposedly cares for people, and especially its workers. The reason is that in the country where the work is sublet to contractors, working conditions are pathetic, and even the existing rules and labor laws of the country are blatantly flaunted, like for example, workers only 13 years old, earning as little as 10 cents an hour are forced to toiled up to 17 hours everyday, and that too in an enforced silence, failure of which would mean a fine of $1.20 to $3.60 per violation, according to the Global Exchange Report, and this means that the rule stating that no child under 16 may work in a factory is being sullied everyday. (“Nike: The Sweatshop Debate,” n. d.)
In Indonesia, for example, workers like framers receive about $1 per day, while Nike pays its workers about $2.28 per day. However, Nike is constantly bombarded with accusations that the pay rate for its workers is way too low. While this may be true for the United States of America, as far as Indonesia is concerned, the workers are being paid much more than they are accustomed to. One can even go so far as to say that the general working conditions for working classes in Indonesia are poor and appalling, and this may mean that wherever the workers were to work, be it in Nike, or in any other company, they would face the same distressing conditions. It is a fact that Nike is relentlessly subjected to negative publicity, in the main for its ‘sweatshops’. To combat this, Nike hired Andrew Young, a man who had been an ambassador to the United Nations, and charged him with the responsibility of assessing the sweatshops. He visited fifteen factories in different countries and he stated that he saw nothing wrong with the workplaces, and that “…I saw crowded dorms… But the workers were eating at least two meals a day on the job and making what I was told were subsistence wages in those cultures.” (“Nike: The Sweatshop Debate,” n. d.)
Young had to face severe criticism after his comments, and a few years later, Nike decided to set up a task force made up of industry leaders, people from human rights groups, and labor leaders, who would try to banish sweat shops. An agreement was reached, wherein U.S. manufacturers would protect the rights of their workers abroad, and also ensure that the work week would last up to 60 hours, and that minimum wages would be paid to their workers. The Fair Labor Association or the FLA, a monitoring association was created, which would examine whether companies were maintaining their promises. However, I feel that the criticism of Nike’s sweatshops was not handled satisfactorily, and perhaps some other method may have been used to do it. Therefore, Nike has to bring in changes into its current policies even if they eventually hinder the ability of the company to compete with others. For example, Nike raised the age limit according to the ILO to 18 in footwear manufacturing units. This could be an excellent policy, but it was criticized saying that Nike had never bothered with child labor laws, and therefore why was it doing it now? Is it a public relations stunt, asked critics. The thing that needs to be changed is the minimum wages, and not the minimum ages. (“Nike: The Sweatshop Debate,” n. d.)
The Workers Rights Consortium or WRC, an alternating auditing association was set up by the United Students against Sweatshops or USAS, as a form of protest against Nike. In their opinion, the FLA, which had cropped up from the Presidential task force on sweatshops, was merely an industry tool, and could never be an independent auditor. This fact may be true, if one were to base one’s opinion on widespread criticism on the Presidential campaign against sweatshops. Sweatshops are indeed a global problem, and several multinational companies that have manufacturing units outside their own countries, so that they may take advantage of cheap labor contribute to this problem, and the problem is in fact much larger than Nike, and the problem does not lie with just one individual factory, or one individual manager. The problem in fact lies with the global production system that has been lowering standards through the years, and has also been steadily contributing to the ever worsening conditions in developing countries across the world, and also in several factories across the United States of America. (“Nike: The Sweatshop Debate,” n. d.)
One must try to find solutions to the problem of sweatshops by using the ingenious method of asking the workers. The need of the hour could well be to create and thereafter, implement a systematic and strident policy that would monitor and bring in improvements in the garment and footwear and other similar industries. The industry must become more transparent, and open to public as well as market scrutiny. The veil of secrecy and silence that these industries have been hiding under must be exposed, and no secrets allowed remaining within the four walls of the sweatshops. One could even create a system whereby workers and communities would be able to speak in the same language, and therefore, communicate better with each other through their own organizations and associations. If one could take all these steps, then these could well prove to be the best global solution to the problem of sweatshops and cheap labor and exploitation under the name of the organization. (O’Rourke, 2001)
References
Akst, Daniel. (2001) “Working Conditions of Nike Contract Workers” NCPA Trade Issues.
Retrieved 26 September, 2007 at http://www.ncpa.org/pd/trade/pd030601g.html
Churchwell, Cynthia. (2003, Dec) “The New Global Business Manager.” Retrieved 26 September, 2007 at http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3827.html
Frenkel, Michael; Hommel, Ulrich; Rudolf, Markus; Dufey, Gunter. (2005) “Risk management,
Challenge and opportunity” Springer.
N.A. (n. d.) “Nike: The Sweatshop Debate”
Case Study.
O’Rourke, Dara. (2001, Feb) “To fix sweatshop conditions in factories, we must listen to workers.” The Boston Globe, p. 7.
NIKE”
Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply
Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?
Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.
Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?
- Plagiarism free papers
- Timely delivery
- Any deadline
- Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
- Subject-relevant academic writer
- Adherence to paper instructions
- Ability to tackle bulk assignments
- Reasonable prices
- 24/7 Customer Support
- Get superb grades consistently
Online Academic Help With Different Subjects
Literature
Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.
Finance
Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.
Computer science
Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!
Psychology
While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.
Engineering
Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.
Nursing
In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.
Sociology
Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.
Business
We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!
Statistics
We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.
Law
Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.
What discipline/subjects do you deal in?
We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.
Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?
Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.
What if I don’t like the paper?
There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.
Reasons being:
- When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
- We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.
In the event that you don’t like your paper:
- The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
- We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
- Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.
Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?
Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.
What if the paper is plagiarized?
We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.
When will I get my paper?
You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.
Will anyone find out that I used your services?
We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.
How our Assignment Help Service Works
1. Place an order
You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.
2. Pay for the order
Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.
3. Track the progress
You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.
4. Download the paper
The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!
